INCLUSIVE LIVING LANDSCAPES WITH THRIVING COMMUNITIES

The document outlines a bottom-up approach to managing the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus in South Africa through 'knowledge festivals' and 'community champions'. It details a March 2024 case study in Matatiele where over 200 participants used art, science, and traditional knowledge to address resource challenges. The text advocates for the 'Ecochamps' model—upskilling local youth to bridge communication between traditional leadership and NGOs—and provides a set of practical guidelines for scaling these inclusive engagement methods globally to improve natural resource management and social justice.

• Knowledge festivals are designed to bridge diverse knowledge systems by valuing lived experiences equally with expert scientific knowledge, using creative and participatory methods to make knowledge co-production more interactive.
• A WEF Nexus Knowledge Festival held in March 2024 in Matatiele engaged over 200 participants through a mix of roundtable discussions, field visits, and cultural activities such as traditional dance, poetry, and theater to identify local resource challenges.
• Community champions, such as the 'Ecochamps' in the uMzimvubu River catchment, serve as essential links between local residents, traditional leadership, and support agencies; between 2017 and 2025, the NGO Environmental and Rural Solutions (ERS) upskilled over 135 such youth champions.
• Effective WEF nexus governance in South Africa requires addressing the lag in energy security compared to water and food security, while overcoming challenges like insufficient cross-sectoral collaboration and limited integration of indigenous governance systems.
• Guidelines for successful knowledge festivals emphasize inclusive engagement from the start, the use of multi-modal communication (including local languages and art), local sourcing of goods to ensure economic benefit, and the equal treatment of indigenous and scientific knowledge.

APA

WWF South Africa (2025). INCLUSIVE LIVING LANDSCAPES WITH THRIVING COMMUNITIES. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wef-knowledge-festival-factsheet_web.pdf

Chicago

WWF South Africa. INCLUSIVE LIVING LANDSCAPES WITH THRIVING COMMUNITIES. 2025. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wef-knowledge-festival-factsheet_web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF South Africa |title=INCLUSIVE LIVING LANDSCAPES WITH THRIVING COMMUNITIES |date=2025 |url=https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wef-knowledge-festival-factsheet_web.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfsouthafrica2025inclusive, author = {{WWF South Africa}}, title = {{INCLUSIVE LIVING LANDSCAPES WITH THRIVING COMMUNITIES}}, institution = {WWF South Africa}, year = {2025}, url = {https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wef-knowledge-festival-factsheet_web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }